homepage Forums SimHQ Community Community Hall Enjoying The Witcher 3! [no spoilers]

Just enjoying this amazing game. I've not been much for fantasy/medieval-set games. Skyrim, Oblivion, Dragon Age, Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's Gate, and the like never really kept my interest for very long while I could play games like Mass Effect, Fallout, and other futuristic/post-apocalyptic games to the end. The only recent game I've finished that was fantasy-set was Shadows of Mordor and The Witcher 3 seems to be another game I cannot stop playing.

The stories are good and Geralt himself is quite a character. Amazing how good the faces of the NPCs are and the voice-acting is brilliant..... although I can't imagine why everyone in fantasy either has some sort of British accent or Scottish accent!

I'm just going through one quest and I really liked the choice I made plus the story that came after it.... very nice to see how actions in one area affects how other areas open up (or don't!).

One thing I don't really understand is why Geralt has to be at a certain level to wear certain items. Why must he be level 8 or 16 or whatever just to wear a certain pair of boots? Makes no sense at all. I can understand unlocking abilities and learning new skills, but wearing armor or wielding swords?

Another bit is the "open world" setting vs. following the story. Especially in the intro bit... I could've followed the story and rushed through the area but then the "open world" factor wouldn't be felt and I'd go onto the next area with a lower-levelled Geralt. I also don't like being able to loot people's homes all the time, especially when they're right there... but I don't like leaving things behind....

On the plus side, I'm starting to get into character now.... once entered a house of a poor but upright peasant. I took a look at what he had on the shelves and decided he can keep his candles and fishing rod.

Cheers, Ice! I've also played a bit of Skyrim, and, like you, never got really into it, but have been eyeing The Witcher as well. Probably will give it a go if it goes on a sale.

I put down some tips here:

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4124902

What happens when you're caught in a house?

Pull your trousers up and hope her husband doesn't have a sword.

The thing which blew me apart the most about W2 was the production quality of the animated sequences - including costume design, faces and audio. Getting the story trough these frequent clips was like watching a movie. From what I've seen so far W3 doesn't fall short here either?

Curious that they introduced a food mechanism into the game.

I'd love to hear from someone (without spoiler detail) how the W2 savegames change the W3 setting.

The food mechanism is largely just for health. If you don't have a swallow potion or an ability to slowly regen you can consume food to heal a tiny bit.

Yeah looting houses is a bit odd, but guards will react if you steal within their sight. Go to the garrison in the starting area and start opening crates and the game will warn you immediately that you're doing something naughty.

As for leveling up, that's RPGs for you. While it's not hyper realistic there wouldn't be much progression without it, and you kinda need progression in a game this damn long.

Yeah, food is like cheap healing. I've just been drinking water a lot And trying to pick plants/berries/reagents whenever I can.

Funny thing is that potions like Swallow gets used up but I cannot brew more; the Alchemy screen says I already have it. When I meditate, it'll auto-brew the potion. What??! Another thing that surprised me was that oils do NOT get used up.... at least so far it doesn't. I've noticed one "application" on my sword is good for 20 hits, then it needs to be re-applied again or apply something else, but I was surprised that oils seem to be unlimited applications.

As far as looting, the only time I was warned was when I was in a garrison. In another part of the world, I could loot stuff off a castle, in front of the guards, and nothing bad happens. I'd really like this to be fixed because if it's there, I know I can't help myself. Or perhaps removed altogether. Who leaves reagents and potions on boxes and crates outside their houses anyway?

As for the cutscenes, yeah. I've had to lower the settings a bit (HD 7970 GHz Ed. but pushing 3 screens) but the facial expressions plus the recorded audio plus the background music is just perfectly matched and gives off the right mood/feeling. However, if I'm honest, I think I'm getting sick of Geralt's tone.... I can't tell if he's being serious or taking the mick

Your potions get "refilled" during meditation if you have any hard alcohol in your inventory.

Do they just use the alcohol or do they use the herbs/flowers as well?

I haven't quite figured out how they did the alchemy this time around either. In W2 you'd have to learn the potion by recipe then gather the ingredients to make it. Same potions could be made with different ingredients too because they might happen to have the same elements in them as their base such as quibirth and reobin or whatever.

Also I've just started the pc version. Can you not go back to a world area if you progress too much? I know in W2 I'd do everything I could or wanted in a level because I knew I'd never get to go back. Flotsam was pretty much my favorite locale.

Also, does anyone one know if its possible to turn off the camera's auto recenter? I don't like my third person games to have that on so that I can freely pan around how I want to admire the character and background scenery. This is what I do in games like Red Dead Redemption.

Just booze. Herbs, flowers, etc are used by yourself for creating potions and whatnot, nothing else. The drinkie can either be used as a great way to heal a small cut and get drunk, or refill potions.

Yeah I like that you don't have to keep remaking the potions, you just do the recipe once and then it's always in your inventory from then on, no repeated alchemy needed.

I'm really enjoying W3, just wandering around the beautiful world on my horse finding trouble and adventure, the scenery and weather is so well done that I just love exploring it in between the story quests which are really well done too.

Also after having read the first 4 books, I now understand the somewhat flat voice acting for Geralt, in the books he has the same type of dry comments and emotions as Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry or Fistful Of Dollars, so the voice acting seems to be appropriate and even the subtle sarcastic humor.

He is indeed a hard individual on the outside with a good heart. The humor often comes from the sigh inducing situations he's thrown into and the oddball characters you can come across.

The harpy kill-farming contract in W2 comes to mind, and I was recently laughing out loud at a certain mission yesterday in 3 as well.

The sky box visuals are stunning. I don't think any real volumetric clouds are being rendered but many developers could learn a thing or two from these folks on how to use art and lighting to create an amazing atmosphere.

I just really hope they remove the auto camera re-center and fix the hitch in the horse's giddy up because those two things believe it or not are I'm sad to say kind of giving me a headache and nausea which is a rare occurrence for me and games.

I'm not sure I like the night times... far too bright even when in the middle of nowhere. But then again, I guess this is Geralt's "see in the dark" ability?

I'm also not sure I like the story-with-open-world element. If he's supposed to be running away from someone or tracking someone, then he doesn't have the time to spend clearing monster dens and helping every little peasant that begs for aid. Maybe I'd have preferred it if they either went with a story OR open world.... but then again, I guess this is exactly similar to Fallout 3 and Fallout NV with a story and an open-world option. In those games, I sorta ignored the world and just followed the trail of the story I guess I'll do things differently this time.

I've now occasionally hit the upper limit of my carry weight which means Geralt no longer runs but is stuck walking. I suspect it's all the books and herbs I am carrying. If only alcohol is used to re-brew potions, then I guess I can sell the herbs/plants I am carrying and only worry about ingredients when I get a new recipe? What about the books? Or all the random loot I've picked up? Is it worth it to just dismantle them?

I wish I had a house or a location where I can dump my stuff in this game.... I guess Roach will have to do for now.


Just had some sexy time in this game and that definitely influenced my actions later in the game. I also just did this one quest and really felt my previous actions impact on how the story came out. I'd like to re-do the quest to explore the other branch of the story but that means a good few hours of play so I guess I'll trudge on for now. Maybe re-visit it later and just run through it to see how it would've gone.

It's still a game. No RPG makes any sense if it allows you to wander, the stories are almost always time critical

And yes, dump useless crap if it has a substantial weight, you're a traveling monster hunter not a farmer with a barn to store all your stolen goodies

You can buy better saddles though, not sure if you've seen any yet but they increase your carry weight. IMO no use to collecting every single ingredient on the planet though, I figure out what I need then hunt it down when I need it.

Yeah, I got new saddles. I'm not carrying much heavy stuff (weapons, armor, etc.) as I pick what I want and sell the rest, so it's those little things that I have to sell off now.